Save the ape partnership place for zoo

The Great Ape Survival Partnership unites all the principal parties in great ape conservation in a concerted approach to ensure the long-term survival of great apes and their habitat in Africa and Asia

Twycross Zoo has reinforced its position among the world’s top conservation centres by cementing a collaboration with the United Nations Great Ape Survival Partnership.

The Great Ape Survival Partnership (GRASP) unites all the principal parties in great ape conservation in a concerted approach to ensure the long-term survival of great apes and their habitat in Africa and Asia.

Sharon Redrobe, chief executive of Twycross Zoo, said: “Our goal is to play a leadership role in the conservation of great apes and becoming a GRASP partner is part of that process.

“We already support numerous field projects and GRASP will help provide the political access and international profile to have an even greater impact.”

With its position within the United Nations system GRASP has a unique and vital role in great ape conservation, complimenting the efforts of other organisations through appropriate diplomatic channels.

By becoming a partner Twycross Zoo joins the likes of the Jane Goodall Institute and Wildlife Conservation Society, as well as governments from 31 different countries in the fight to safeguard great ape species.

Doug Cress, programme coordinator for GRASP, said: “It is clear protecting great apes and their forest homes will require a broad-based effort to be successful.

“Twycross Zoo’s commitment to primates and to conservation makes it an ideal partner for GRASP and we look forward to collaborating on specific initiatives.”

Twycross Zoo has extensive expertise in the field of primate management and conservation and over its 50 years has not only successfully bred all four types of great apes but has also supported in-situ projects in Africa and Asia focusing on the conservation and protection of apes.

Off the A444 on the Leicestershire-Warwickshire border the zoo is renowned as a specialist primate centre and is also the only UK zoo to care for every type of great ape, including bonobos.